Fremd plays through more adversity to secure berth in Morton title contest

Fremd experienced a dose of good news and bad news in the last week.

The Vikings welcomed back senior forward Brianna Wooldridge to the court last week. Wooldridge, an IUPUI recruit, missed the first six weeks of the season. The return of the 6-foot-2 Wooldridge immediately vaults the Vikings into consideration for the Class 4A state team, combining with Maddy Fay and Kace Urlacher to form a solid frontcourt.

But the Vikings lost star freshman guard Ella Todd, who has picked up offers from Michigan, Purdue and Pittsburgh in the last three weeks, when she suffered an ankle injury before the start of the inaugural Morton College Girls Basketball Christmas Tournament.

So, in essence, the Vikings were back to the same spot - forced to play without one of their top players, again.

And again, the Vikings proved they were not affected by the loss of an elite player, relying on a 10-minute scoring blitz that started late in the second quarter to record a 61-41 win over Marist in the semifinals on Wednesday night in Cicero.

"Obviously, we have to adjust (with Todd) out and that they play completely different positions," Fay said. "We had to go over things in practice and worked it out."

The Vikings (13-4) won all three games of the tourney by double digits to advance to Thursday's 8:15 p.m. championship game against Geneva. Fay scored a team-high 14 points, sparking the Vikings with three straight baskets late in the second quarter and early in the third for a 33-24 lead.

"I was having a rough first quarter and first half, and didn't want them to decrease our lead and keep it going and help us win the game," Fay said. "We're all excited to play Geneva. We think we're pretty evenly matched up. They're a big team, like us."

Wooldridge admitted she's adjusting to playing heavy minutes, in her fourth game back on the court. She scored 7 points against Marist.

"It's going to take me a second to get back in my groove, but I'm excited to be back," Wooldridge said. "I have to just keep moving the ball and also keep moving. Every game, I'm getting better and better."

Fremd coach Dave Yates said his team is slowly nursing back to full health, noting the strength of his players to adapt. The Vikings knocked off Marist by shooting a high percentage and allowing just 25 points in the final three quarters.

"Ella got hurt in the second quarter of our last game before break started, but she will be back," Yates said. "The crazy thing is we haven't played all season with Norah O'Brien. She played in her first varsity "B" game last week. We're hoping she comes back soon. We're excited at some point to get all of our bodies together."

The Vikings picked up several key contributions, with Nikki Gonnella (11 points), Brynn Eshoo (7 points) and Anna Schmitt and Isabelle Zavilla both tallying 6 points apiece all providing key plays. The Vikings' zone defense bothered Marist throughout the game.

"We had predominantly played man defense before this tournament, but the arrival of Brianna to go with Maddy and Kace, we've got a lot of length," Yates said. "We can take advantage of our length. I'm also pleased with Jill Sheehan and Isabella sticking some big threes. That's us reaching the next level and makes us tough to beat."